I have a black thumb

I have a black thumb

Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:52 am

Hello everyone! I am a horrible gardener, and my family has always teased that I have a black thumb instead of a green one. I moved into my first house (still renting, but it's not an apartment, and I have a yard!) last spring. The property came equipped with *many* flowerbeds... front to back fence line beds on both sides of the house, plus all along the front fence, on both sides of the driveway, around the front porch... Flowerbeds everywhere... And they hadn't been taken care of by the previous-current owner (my significant other), so they are about 5 years overgrown. I tried last year to clean them up, but it was just too much for a newbie like me, and I really had no clue what I was doing. At one point my neighbor came over and ask me to please remove the creeper weed that was climbing up her fence, and I told her that I'd honestly thought that it was a pretty vine, and I thought it was *supposed* to be there, I had no clue it was a weed... Anyways, this year, I'm going to try again, though I'm going to be taking out some of the worst beds and focusing on the ones I think I can manage to handle. But I've got a lot of questions. everything from how to prune a lilac bush, what kind of roses are these, is this a weed or a flower... I'm hoping to find lots information, and hopefully even a few friends. I'll see about posting some pictures tomorrow night.

It will help to split your questions up and post them in the appropriate places. For example, we have a whole separate Forum (section) for Lilacs. The people who are really into lilacs will find your pruning question easiest if you post it there...

Best wishes!

PS no one really has a black thumb, just a lack of knowledge and experience. You will gain those and get better at growing things!

Last edited by rainbowgardener on Sat Mar 19, 2011 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Start at the fist picture, the shot of the house from the yard, and just flip. They're in order, with descriptions on each one.

A short little chap, bouncy in stride/Harvests the crops he grows with pride.Berries ripen, plump figs dangle/Around the nettles green herbs tangle.The tiny gardener while chewing on rye/Winks to a field mouse as he passes on by...~Jacob King

Picture two, flowers along the front fence are bulb flowers coming up, looks like tulips and maybe hyacinth. Picture 3 is a rhododendron on the right and some kind of conifer evergreen, maybe cedar or juniper. 4 is more of the same, tulips in front of the juniper or whatevers. 6 tulips. 7 more bulbs not close enough to tell what. But maybe less of it dead than you think. 10 and 11 the two shrubs on either side of the steps are probably hydrangeas. 13 tiger lily bed "growing wild." Not sure what you mean by that. More later. 19 the "pretty purple things." Not sure with out a close up, but probably purple crocus, an early spring bulb flower. 24 I'm not sure either what the "ugly thing" is, hard to tell while it's dormant. Could even be some kind of tree that's been chopped down a couple times and keeps coming back. But I would get rid of it. It's too close to the house. 27 yup the white ones are crocuses like the purple ones.

Whoever did the original planting of shrubs, planted everything way too close to the house for their mature size. Probably planted little shrubs without thinking what they were going to look like 20 years later. So you are stuck with a lot of pruning and trimming, unless you want to just get rid of some things.

Don't touch the lilac now, just wait until it blooms. That way you can enjoy what ever blooms it does produce and you will be much more able to see what is dead and what isn't. Then cut out all the dead stuff, cut off all the spent blooms so they don't go to seed. Cut off branches that are crossing and rubbing each other. Cut off at least most of the more horizontal branches that are growing in towards the center. You want to open up the center so that light/air/water get to the ground and all the parts of the plant. Then take a saw and cut off a couple of the biggest, oldest stems at ground level. Every year repeat this and pretty soon it will have been all rejuvenated.

Re the tiger lilies. If by going wild you mean there are too many of them, just take your shovel and dig up a whole clump. Divide it up and replant what you want. Try to find someone to give away the rest to, which is a challenge, because everyone else has tiger lilies multiplying like mad.

Post some individual questions (like the roses) in individual forums.

Good luck ... It's great fun, you have a whole blank canvas to work on!

Thanks for all the help everyone! I'll try to sort out all of the rest of my questions into the appropriate forums. I'm already loving this forum!

A short little chap, bouncy in stride/Harvests the crops he grows with pride.Berries ripen, plump figs dangle/Around the nettles green herbs tangle.The tiny gardener while chewing on rye/Winks to a field mouse as he passes on by...~Jacob King